Hero's Wheel

Core idea : Hero's Wheel is a framework for designing user's behavior in relation to our product (in a wide sense)

Let's consider our user a hero

• According to Campbell, every hero* follows a certain development path, or goes for a hero's journey

• This hero's journey serves as a basis for the Hero's Wheel

“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself,” — Joseph Campbell

This framework can help:

• to better understand our users with their pains & needs

• to comprehend the gap between the existing solutions & the desired outcomes

• to make our product a perfect fit for each segment of our users

This template is useful for:

• designing a new product

• developing a strategy for a company, product, communications

• analyzing & segmenting audiences (users, customers, consumers)

How to work with the template:

• The right-hand half of the wheel relates to the hero only, while the left-hand one focuses on the hero & their interaction with our product

• The inner circle focuses on the hero themselves (user, customer) and their thoughts & feelings

• The outer circle covers the environment & attributes around the hero

• Each sections has a serial number — you go step by step filling in the template with details (check the guiding questions around the wheel) but can always come back & add new insights

References:

• Campbell, J. (1949). The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Pantheon Books, USA.

• Erskine, R. G. (2011). Attachment, Relational-Needs, and Psychotherapeutic Presence. URL: ResearchGate

• Make Sense, A system of scenario design